Adolf Hitler's Influences

Adolf Hitler’s experiences during his youth heavily influenced his opinions later in life by impacting his views on nationalism, authority, and strength. He grew up in Austria, where he was raised by an abusive father and a submissive mother. This family dynamic fostered an environment where Hitler learned to respect power and despise weakness. His childhood experiences led to his desire for power and dominance, which heavily impacted the trajectory of his life. 

Hitler’s relationship with his authoritarian and abusive father Alois had a large impact on the way he viewed strength as a child. His father grew up in a small town with many old-fashioned values and he was mistreated by many members of his community as he had no father (Murray). Alois’ main sense of pride was his position as a customs official, as he felt like it put him above the people who used to mistreat him (Murray). He spent a lot of time bragging about his power and he maintained that sense of authority in his home. His third wife, Adolf’s mother, was twenty-three years younger than him (Murray). Alois’ superiority complex, age, and the societal values of the time all helped him feel more powerful in his household. He ruled as an authoritative figure, looking down on both his wife and Adolf. Most of his interactions with Adolf involved beating him and/or insulting him. He made it very clear that he despised any sort of weakness and felt as though serving for the country was the best thing to do. While Alois was a very aggressive man, Adolf’s mother was far kinder which led to his Oedipus Complex (Murray). Hitler respected the way his father exerted power in the household, but felt closer to his mother due to her kindness.

As he got older, he began to model more of his father’s behaviors. In February 1908, Hitler left to live in Vienna as he wished to be successful like his father (Hitler). He lived in Vienna until May 1913 when he moved to Munich to join the military in World War I (USHMM). While he was in Vienna, he was influenced by German nationalist beliefs and anti-semitism that had been promoted by Karl Lueger, who was the mayor at the time (USHMM). He was extremely poor, and the idea that Jewish people were causing the problems that many middle and lower class Germans faced was something that he internalized (USHMM). While Hitler served in the military, he was influenced by even more propaganda. This time, it led him to believe that Germany’s defeat was due to what other countries were saying rather than performance on the battlefield (USHMM). After the war ended, Hitler joined the German Workers’ Party (Ross). where he delivered a speech against Bavarian separatism7, the movement where people in Bavaria desired to form their own state independent of Germany. He was a very charismatic person who had strong public speaking skills, and as a result of that he became the spokesperson for the party (Ross). As he began working with the German Workers’ Party, he made his first statement on Jewish people, saying that they were the reason why there was a communist revolution in Bavaria and that the government needed to remove them from Germany (USHMM). As he continued to work with the GWP, he developed a program that would focus on expanding Germany, undoing the Treaty of Versailles, and controlling Jewish people (USHMM). Not too long after this, the German Workers’ Party became the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (USHMM).

As Hitler gained more power as leader of the Nazi party, he spent more time using the media to spread his message (Ross). and used his connections with former soldiers to grow the party (USHMM). In 1921, he worked with Ernst Röhm to create the Sturmabteilungen, also known as the SA or the storm troopers, which were meant to promote a sense of strength and power within the party (USHMM). This, along with the economic crisis, foreign occupation, and political violence helped the Nazi party to grow in population (USHMM).  All of these problems eventually led to Nazis somewhat agreeing with the Bavarians as they both strongly disliked the government in Berlin. However, the Nazis were aiming to control the government rather than exist separately from the government.

As a result of their similar values, Nazis and Bavarians worked together to try and overthrow the Weimar Republic. However, this didn’t end up working out well as Bavarians weren’t as passionate about overthrowing the government as the Nazis were (USHMM). Instead of following through with the Beer Hall Putsch, they ended up reporting the Nazis to the police which led to the Nazi party being shut down and its leaders arrested. While in prison, Hitler wrote his infamous book, Mein Kampf. In this book, he reflected on his life and his views. After he was released from prison, he wrote the second volume of Mein Kampf, where he wrote about his Judeaphobic, nationalist, racist, and Darwinist beliefs (USHMM). A lot of what he wrote in these books was about power, strength, and authority which goes back to what he was told to prioritize by his father. After he wrote these books, he focused on bringing back the Nazi party and regaining his rights. He introduced a new military force, the Schutztaffel, also known as the SS (USHMM). The SS was meant to provide security for Hitler and his colleagues, as well as assist in restructuring the Nazi hierarchy. After the Nazi party was brought back, there were many changes in their values. They participated in elections, they focused on inclusion of different groups that usually didn’t get along well, listened to the concerns of voters, and worked to scare people into supporting them (USHMM). After doing this, the Nazis promised to provide a better future for Germany in which civilians would be able to lead far better lives. They focused mainly on the removal of Jewish people and improving the economy (USHMM). Nazis used these strategies as well as propaganda strategies that were used in World War I to gain power in Germany. 

In January 1933, Hitler was appointed as Chancellor after numerous attempts (USHMM). However, this wasn’t due to them gaining the popular vote. The Nazi party was popular and successful, however Hitler had to demand to be appointed as Chancellor numerous times before he was granted that position. Paul von Hindenburg, the German president at the time, only appointed Hitler as chancellor due to coercion by conservative politicians who thought they could benefit from Nazi popularity while controlling Hitler (USHMM). After Hitler was appointed, he destroyed German democracy by manipulating the law, and eventually appointed himself as the leader of Germany (USHMM). This marked the beginning of his dictatorship. 

When Hitler came to power, he focused on using terror to maintain control of Germany(USHMM). He used the SA to silence Germans who didn’t support Nazis, and ended all individual freedoms. He essentially made it so that people were never able to have conversations without being spied on. Hitler dissolved all non Nazi political parties, and signed a treaty with the Vatican to allow Catholicism to continue in Germany despite continuing to persecute Catholic establishments(USHMM). As time went on, Hitler continued to rule with terror: he got rid of any and everyone who didn’t fit his view of a perfect German and constantly analyzed the way that people interacted with each other.

Hitler’s actions during World War II have a lasting impact on history, and are all linked to his desire for more power. He was raised to idolize strength and control, and the impact that had on him is shown through his actions. He eliminated anyone that he thought was useless or weak, and focused on preserving values and people who symbolized strength and power in his eyes. The way Hitler acted while he was in power can be linked to how his father raised him, and how he was impacted by poverty towards the beginning of World War I.

Works Cited

“Adolf Hitler: Early Years, 1889–1913.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/adolf-hitler-early-years-1889-1913?series=4. Accessed 10 November 2024.

“Adolf Hitler and World War I: 1913–1919.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 9 November 2007, https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/adolf-hitler-and-world-war-i-1913-1919?series=4. Accessed 10 November 2024.

“Adolf Hitler: 1919-1924.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.  https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/adolf-hitler-1919-1924?series=4. Accessed 10 November 2024.

“Adolf Hitler: 1924-1930.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 21 March 2017, https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/adolf-hitler-1924-1930?series=4. Accessed 10 November 2024.

“Adolf Hitler: 1930-1933.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.  21 March 2017, https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/adolf-hitler-1930-1933?series=4. Accessed 10 November 2024.

“Hitler Comes to Power: How, When, & Key Dates.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.  23 February 2022, https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/hitler-comes-to-power. Accessed 10 November 2024.

Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945. Mein Kampf. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999.

Murray, Henry A. Analysis of the Personality of Adolf Hitler: With Predictions of His Future Behavior and Suggestions for Dealing With Him Now and After Germany's Surrender. Harvard Psychological Clinic, 1943.

“The Nazi Terror Begins.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-nazi-terror-begins?series=31. Accessed 10 November 2024.

Ross, Alex. “How American Racism Influenced Hitler.” The New Yorker, 23 April 2018, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/30/how-american-racism-influenced-hitler. Accessed 10 November 2024.

Statement of Honesty

I did this all on my own without any sort of cheating or plagiarism. I cited all of the sources that I used, and I wrote all of these words on my own.